


to think a sailor lad should have a daughter or a son

by mothicalcreatures



Series: IN WHICH, John Irving and Solomon Tozer Have a Baby [1]
Category: The Terror (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Internalized Prejudices, M/M, Trans Male Character, Trans Pregnancy, even among other trans guys, good boyfriend solomon tozer, irving has some of those is all, it's not transphobia but like, the terror decameron, there's a lot of preconceived notions about the options trans men have for bottom surgery, trans Tozer, trans irving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23342866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothicalcreatures/pseuds/mothicalcreatures
Summary: John Irving was pregnant and he had no idea who the father was.
Relationships: Lt John Irving/Sgt Solomon Tozer, Lt John Irving/Sgt Solomon Tozer/Pte William Heather/Six Pounder
Series: IN WHICH, John Irving and Solomon Tozer Have a Baby [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679731
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23
Collections: the terror decameron





	to think a sailor lad should have a daughter or a son

**Author's Note:**

  * For [teapig](https://archiveofourown.org/users/teapig/gifts).



> So on Discord we were discussing what if there was an Irving/Tozer/Heather/Six Pounder foursome. We're still hoping someone will write porn of that, but here's my modern au, gay, trans contribution. 
> 
> Also written for the Terror Decameron day 3 prompt "misadventure."
> 
> The title is from [The Handsome Cabin Boy.](https://open.spotify.com/track/75xBsndx6LRmBPGJJRDKfN)

John Irving was pregnant and he had no idea who the father was. It was his own damn fault, he despaired, staring down at the little pink plus on the pregnancy test. He’d accepted Solomon’s invitation to the party, gotten drunk and wound up in bed with three cis men: Solomon, Solomon’s friend William Heather, and… and… he didn’t even know the third man’s name, only the moniker “Six Pounder.” A wave of nausea rolled through him and he only barely got the toilet lid up in time before the contents of his stomach made a violent reappearance.

Once he was confident he wasn’t going to be throwing up anymore, John retreated into his bedroom and collapsed onto his bed. His mind was already reeling with the changes he’d have to make. He’d have to stop T, he’d have to come out to his coworkers, his _boss_. Oh no… he’d have to tell his family, they didn’t even know he was gay. They knew he was trans, of course, but they now expected him to settle down with a woman. John knew telling them he was gay would end in an argument replete with, “If you wanted to date a man why didn’t you just stay a woman?”

Or he could get an abortion and no one would have to know of this little slip up. No, no, he couldn’t do that. His faith would never allow it, the life growing inside him was sacred, and while he would never deny another their choice, he could not do that in good conscious himself.

John was distracted from his thoughts when his phone buzzed on his night stand. He pushed himself up to grab it before flopping back down. Then he looked at the caller ID and his heart sank as he realized he’d utterly forgotten that he had a date with Solomon. He answered quickly.

“I’m sorry.” John’s voice caught a bit, as though he’d been crying. He hadn’t been, but he might be about to.

On the other end of the line Solomon sounded very worried. “Is everything all right?”

John hauled himself into a sitting position. He had a thought to say, ‘Yes, I’m fine. I lay down for a nap and lost track of the time.’ What came out, however, was, “I’m pregnant.” 

There was a beat of silence from Solomon and then, “Fuck.” Another beat. “Do you know whose it is?”

And there were the tears. John wiped at his eyes. “No.”

A sigh from Solomon. “Well, we know I’m not an option, at least.”

John, about to get to his feet, stilled on the bed. “What? Why?”

“I’m… John, I’m trans too. Fuck, I thought for sure you knew.”

“Oh.” _Oh._ He hadn’t realized… He knew better than to judge a person based on appearance, but he’d seen Solomon naked, multiple times, and, well, his penis had seemed incredibly normal. Nothing like what John had imagined a surgically created penis might look like.

“I’m sorry,” John muttered.

Solomon snorted. “Don’t be. I’d say I was flattered if I didn’t enjoy being trans so much.”

That pulled a small chuckled out of John and he wiped at his eyes again.

“So… what are you going to do?” Solomon asked.

“Keep it,” John replied quietly, steeling himself for what would surely come next. “I don’t expect you to stay if you’d rather not. I’ll manage.”

They’d only been together for a handful of months, hardly enough time to think of committing to a family.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’ll be right over. I’ll get you tea latte from that place you like, and we’ll get this all sorted out, yeah?”

John choked on a sob. This was all so much so fast.“Thank you.”

“Course, I’ll be there in fifteen. It’ll be all right, John, I’ve got you.”

Seventeen minutes later, Solomon arrived with the promised tea latte, along with one of each kind of muffin the bakery had, a 12-pack of ginger ale and the original Winnie the Pooh on DVD. John nearly burst into tears.

“Thank you,” John breathed. Once he and Solomon were settled on the couch, Irving carefully nursing the still hot tea and Solomon slowly picking apart a banana nut muffin, with Winnie the Pooh playing quietly in the background.

“I said I’d take care of you,” Solomon said. “I meant it. Sure we may not stay together forever, but I like you a lot and I’d like not to lose what we have just because we had a drunken, ill-advised foursome.”

“I enjoyed it,” John said weakly. “I just… hadn’t realized we’d forgone protection.”

Solomon grimaced. “We may not have, the condoms might just not have been big enough and broken. Heather and Six Pounder are both pretty well hung.”

John flushed and ducked his head, fidgeting with his cup for a moment before setting it down on the coffee table and drawing his legs up onto the couch.

“So you’re sure you want to go through with it?” Solomon asked in the silence. “I mean, I’m sure you’ve thought about, but it’s no small thing.”

“I know.” John sighed. “But I… I can’t bring myself to consider the alternative.” He pressed a hand to his stomach. “As I said on the phone, I will manage of my own, if you feel it’s too much.”

Solomon reached out to take John’s hand. “And like I said, don’t be ridiculous. I’ve got you.”

John gave Solomon a watery smile. “Thank you.”

Solomon leaned in, kissing John gently on the cheek. “Now, I… I really have to ask. Did you honestly not notice I was trans? All the times we’ve had sex and you just… didn’t notice my scars or that I didn’t orgasm like a cis man?”

John spluttered. “You were the first man I ever had sex with! And… and we always used condoms, I guess… I guess I just assumed…” He trailed off. “I’m sorry.”

Solomon chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t apologize. We’ve got it sorted now at any rate, and I don’t imagine it will change things much.”

“I feel safer, if anything,” John admitted. Solomon understood more of John’s own circumstances than he’d realized. There wouldn’t be the same misunderstanding that there had been with the last cis man Johnhad tried to date.

“It’s a good feeling,” Solomon agreed, squeezing John’s hand. “And we’ll figure this out, but for right now, just come over here and let me cuddle with you while we watch Winnie the Pooh.”

John smiled, and let Solomon tug him forward as they rearranged themselves to be comfortable. “Why did you have that on you anyway?”

“I keep it in my backpack in case of emergencies.”

John laughed, resting his head on Solomon’s chest, finally starting to feel at ease again.


End file.
